Ruby's Wild Adult Adventure
by Mallobaude
Summary: Teasing. Ridicule. Cheek pinches. Ruby Rose was used to all these things and so much more, and it infuriated her. She hated all the kiddie stuff her sister put her through, but this leader had a plan. Jaune Arc! She just knew her first friend could and would help her become more adult-like. Not like he had much choice. Nope! Nope! Nope! Cover art by CSLucaris.


"Come on, Yang," Ruby pleaded as she stood before her sister. Her hands were clenched together in front of her body, and her head tilted ever so slightly down to the floor. "Please? Pleeeeeeeeease?"

The young redhead was hoping with all her might that Yang would change her mind. Usually this level of begging worked on their father. This much concentrated cuteness was too much for the man to handle. And what father could say no to his two adorable little girls?

"Sorry, Rubes," Yang said once more. "But the answer is still no."

A scowl crept onto Ruby's face. Of course Yang would be immune to such tactics. She was after all the one who had invented them and taught them to Ruby herself. The master could not be outdone by the student so easily.

That was, unless the student was able to surpass said master.

Quickly wiping the dirty look from her features, Ruby decided to call on the big guns. Big guns were the best guns, after all. In a flash silver eyes grew, glistening with faux tears from purposely not blinking. Her lower lip protruded ever so slightly, forming a pout which would have had their father falling to his knees and begging to know what he could do to restore the smile on his precious daughter's flawless face.

"Please?"

Judging by Yang's reaction, even she was affected by the puppy dog pout which would have put even Zwei's to shame. The blonde girl forcibly averted her eyes, bringing up a hand to shield her face as if blocking out the sun's rays. "Gah!" she cried like she had just been struck. Oh she had been struck alright. Struck by the smoothest criminal in all of Vale. Take that, Torchwick! "Don't give me that look, Ruby. That's just cheating."

She was breaking. Just a little more. Just a little further.

With practiced ease, Ruby invaded Yang's personal space, bringing her face right next to her sister's in an attempt to deliver the finishing blow. "Please, Yang?"

Her older sister's labored breathing spoke louder than words ever could. Yes! She was going to relent. She was going to allow Ruby to-

"Would you cease this childishness already," the voice of her partner spoke as she grabbed Ruby by the ear. Tugging on it, Weiss pulled her back away from her sister, ignoring the pained cries of her leader with familiar cold indifference. "Honestly, this kind of behavior is exactly why you shouldn't be allowed to see this movie."

The scowl reappeared as soon as Weiss had let go. She was wrong! Ruby was not too immature to see a movie rated NC-17! The fact that all three of her teammates were going to see it, and would not let her tag along, was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. She was the leader of a team of huntresses in the most prestigious academy in all of Remnant! Two years younger than them, and still deemed fit to lead them! And yet because of her age, she wasn't allowed to see that brand new scary Halloween flick? That was stupid!

Turning her attention to her partner, Ruby decided to target a girl who had no such immunity to her pleas and pouts. "But... but Weiss..." she said softly. Pathetically. "I thought we were friends?"

Pale blue eyes stared directly at her, and the heiress remained unmoved. Did she not have a heart? Or was her heart too frozen from a lifetime of living in Atlas? How did she not even flinch at the sight of liquid silver eyes and a pouting lip?

"We are friends," Weiss confirmed. "However, rules are rules. And as such, you will not be permitted entry to a movie meant for mature audiences."

"Yup," Yang agreed. "As your big sister, it wouldn't be responsible for me to let you see it."

An incredulous laugh slipped through Ruby's lips. "Responsible? You blew up a nightclub!"

"Yes, run by criminals. When you think about it, it actually would have been irresponsible of me not to blow it up."

Tiny hands clenched into fists. Seeing how both her sister and partner were against her, the odds of getting to go with were slim to none. Stupid friends! Stupid sister!

"Fine!" she shouted, resigned to her fate. "It's not like Halloween is my favorite day of the year or anything! I don't need to see some stupid movie filled with blood and gore! I kill Grimm all the time! That's way better than anything in a movie!"

Without even waiting for a response, Ruby stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her as she left. Stupid team. She'd show them just how much of an adult she could be. She would be way more mature than all of them, and prove that she deserved to be able to see that movie.

She needed a witness, however. With her own teammates unavailable as options, she would go to the next best thing. After taking a few simple steps across the hall, Ruby pounded on Team JNPR's door repeatedly until she heard a weary voice inside respond.

Long seconds passed, but finally the door opened to reveal a yawning Nora still clad in her night clothes. "Ruby, it's Saturday morning," she greeted. "What's so important?"

"Jaune," Ruby stated, pushing past the other girl. Nora offered no resistance as the younger girl slipped by her.

Inside she saw four beds lined up neatly, not at all like the cool bunk beds her own dorm housed. Then she saw it. A familiar mop of blond hair nestled comfortably under the covers.

It was time to wake up!

Ruby broke into a brisk sprint as she approached his bed before leaping into the air and landing feet-first on top of it.

The startled cries of the boy along with the squeaking springs of the mattress sounded in her ears, making a beautiful cacophony which woke the rest of his slumbering team.

"Wake up, Jaune!" she shouted as she continued to bounce up and down on his bed. "Wake up!"

Initially he struggled to form words, but soon enough he was able to grab Ruby by the ankles and stop her movements. "Ruby!" he yelled in equal parts shock and frustration. "What are you doing? What's going on?"

"Come on, we're going out," she told him as she hopped back onto the floor. She reached out to grab him by the hand and began pulling him out of bed. "Get dressed. I'll be outside."

"Buh- wha?" he questioned, still in a slightly dazed state. "Where are we going?"

"Just do it! Come on! Time is money!"

Jaune moved to sit upright on his bed, feet planting on the floor as he rubbed his eyes wearily.

With her job done, Ruby stepped back outside and closed the door in order to let her friend get dressed. Oh yes. She would show her sister just how mature she was.

And Jaune was the perfect one to be her partner in such activities.

* * *

Sitting on a bench inside the large room, Jaune could still hardly believe he was here. He couldn't believe he had let himself get woken up and dragged out to Vale on a Saturday morning. A Saturday he could have spent sleeping in and getting some much-needed rest and relaxation after a long week at Beacon. All that fighting and learning took its toll on a growing boy's body, and he was no exception.

Worse still, he could have been playing video games. Or reading comic books. Or something else which would have been a much better use of his time than... this! Whatever this even was!

Vale First National Bank was crammed with people, as it closed early on a Saturday. As such, anyone who needed to do any sort of business was here before it closed at noon. Before noon. He should have still been asleep before noon! This was ridiculous.

The sight of a bright red cape flashed in his periphery, and he saw Ruby returning to the bench for the third time. With her _third_ cup of coffee. Normally the beverages were free to all customers, but could they really call themselves customers? All they had done since they arrived was sit here and watch as actual consumers went about their days, business as usual.

Plopping down next to him, Ruby took a sip of her drink before smiling. Jaune peered into it and saw how it was a light brown color bordering on beige. Just how much cream had she put in it? The way she was practically bouncing in her seat, it must have been a lot. A lot of sugar as well. The normally energized girl was nearly at Nora levels of hyperactivity.

Finally he decided to get to the bottom of this. He had waited long enough for something to come of this trip to downtown Vale. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we at the bank?"

"Because going to the bank is what adults do," she explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sadly it did not. Not at all. It only raised further questions.

Silence once more fell upon them as they sat side by side on the bench. Ruby's feet kicked up and down excitedly as she sat there humming a happy tune, like being at the bank was some amazing experience for her. Jaune on the other hand couldn't help but be utterly bored. Maybe people watching was something Ruby enjoyed?

"So, have you seen the latest stock numbers?" Ruby asked.

He turned to give the girl a curious look. "Uh... no? Did you?"

She nodded happily before taking a sip. "Yep. Things are bad, Jaune. Really bad."

He watched as she took another sip. Deciding to humor her with whatever she was talking about, he pressed for an explanation. "Why's that?"

"The arrow was pointing down," she explained. "That means we should be angry."

That was... true? If you had any kind of investment in the stock market, that was. Which they did not. Truth be told, Jaune had absolutely no knowledge on stocks, or the financial market in general. He knew Ruby didn't either.

"I see."

"Yep. Stupid government," Ruby muttered bitterly. "People are gonna be out of work because of them. Who voted for this council anyway? Idiots, that's who!"

Was this the coffee talking? Had Ruby lost her mind? Caffeine did weird things. Doctor Oobleck Weird. What was going on? "Ruby, do you have any idea what you're even talking about?"

"Of course I do," she said as she pointed up to one of the wall-mounted television screens. "While I was getting my coffee, I heard the guy on TV talking about it." Her face soured as she looked him in the eyes. "Things are bad, Jaune. Real bad. With all the dust robberies lately, dust prices are through the roof. And SDC stock is plummeting. And it's all the government's fault for not preventing it."

Jaune looked up to see that there was indeed some sort of financial news programming being broadcast. The usual talking heads wearing suits, presumably discussing investment advice and corporate news. Apparently they had filled Ruby's head with all kinds of drivel which she was mindlessly parroting back to him.

"So... what's the plan?" he asked.

Tilting her head along with the cup back, Ruby finished off her coffee. "To get another cup," she replied. "It's funny, I don't usually like coffee. But put enough good stuff in it and it's delicious! No wonder adults drink it every day!"

As Ruby stood and approached the coffee machine for the fourth time since arriving, she was intercepted by a man wearing a security uniform. He escorted Ruby back over to where Jaune was sitting, and the blond boy stood in mild confusion and worry.

"Excuse me, are you two waiting for your parents?" the guard asked.

"No," Ruby replied.

"Do you have any business here?"

"Yep."

"May I ask what it is? You've been loitering here for the past half hour drinking coffee."

"My business is none of your business," she told him sternly.

The man sighed, obviously annoyed but held his tongue around what was clearly a teenage girl. One whom he had no idea would have been able to utterly eviscerate him if were to come to blows. Not that Ruby would ever do such a thing, of course.

"Look, if you're not here on any sort of business, and you don't have any sort of appointment, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. This isn't the mall, and you can't just hang out and drink all the coffee. Okay?"

A small frown spread across Ruby's lips. "Fine. Come on, Jaune. Let's go. We'll take our business to another bank!"

As if that was somehow a threat to the people whom would not be losing any lien from her decision, Ruby grabbed Jaune by the hand and led him through the doors. Her vice grip on his fingers caused him to grit his teeth in pain. The girl must have been angry from being expelled from the bank.

As they strolled down the sidewalk, Ruby soon spoke again. "Jaune, we need jobs."

He cast another curious glance her way. "We do?"

"Yes!" she insisted. "I mean, we're almost eighteen!"

Ruby had a funny definition of the word 'almost'. "No, _I'm_ almost eighteen," he clarified. "You're still fifteen. Your birthday's not even until after the Vytal Festival."

"I'm getting there! Slow and steady wins the race!"

"I don't think that's how aging works."

"Either way, we need jobs," she insisted. "Didn't you see what happened back there? The only reason we got kicked out was because we weren't there to take out or deposit any lien. If we had jobs, we'd have lien! Then we could go to the bank!"

He still didn't see why going to the bank was such an important thing. Still, that wasn't the most pressing issue at hand. They kind of had bigger things to worry about for the immediate future.

"We're full time students, Ruby," he explained. "We don't really have time for jobs."

"Students don't pay the bills, Jaune!" she squawked. "We need jobs for that sweet, sweet green... besides, getting a job would totally show how adult we are!"

Jaune didn't need to show how much of an adult he was. He knew who he was. He was seventeen. A kid. A student. Attending a huntsman academy. Right now the last thing he needed was to get mixed up in any kind of extracurricular activities that would distract him from improving as a warrior.

"You seriously dragged me out of bed for this?" he asked. "Ruby, I'm going-"

"Bet if you had a job and disposable lien, Weiss would be more interested in you."

"-to go with you and get a job!" he finished, his eyes lighting up as a smile formed on his face. "How about there?"

He had pointed to the first business they had walked past. A Simple Wok.

Ruby looked the place up and down before nodding with approval. "Sounds good! I mean, how hard can working in the food industry be? We make food all the time. And it's not like people are going to get all worked up over a little five lien meal, right?"

Jaune nodded as well. "Exactly. This is practically going to be free lien."

"Come on, let's go!"

Dashing inside the restaurant, they encountered an elderly looking man behind the counter. He appeared to be the owner of the place, or at the very least a manager.

"Excuse me, good sir," Ruby said. "Me and my friend here are looking for work. Are you hiring?"

The man studied them for a few brief seconds before mumbling something unintelligible. With speed which could rival Ruby's own Semblance, he dashed to a backroom, and almost as soon as he had left, returned with a pair of uniforms.

He handed them to the two teens, and motioned for them to come to the back in order to put them on.

* * *

"I need noodles!"

Ruby called back into the kitchen for a refill of noodles. They were out of noodles. How were they out of noodles? All they served was noodles!

The young girl had grown to despise the general public over these past few hours. People were stupid. Ignorant. Rude. Incompetent. Inconsiderate. And a whole plethora of words she hadn't even thought of yet.

The bottom line was that the customer was _not_ always right! The customer was always stupid! Stupid stupid stupid!

Someone had asked if they served hamburgers. Another asked if they served pizza. Did it look like they served pizza? Was pizza on the menu? Oh, where's the menu, he had asked. Right above you! Literally right above the counter! But no, you're too busy being distracted by the freakin' walls to look at the menu, aren't you?

Jaune pushed through the doors which led to the kitchen, a tray of steaming noodles in his hands. "Noodles up!" he shouted, as was customary in the establishment. It helped inform the employees at the front that he was up, so there was no risk of anyone bumping into him and risking injury. Or spilled noodles.

By the gods would these people be upset if they had to wait for their noodles. Like it was a matter of life or death to them. Gods forbid they had to wait a minute for their orders to be fulfilled!

"Get it out to table four," she shouted at the boy. She wasn't angry at him. She just had to shout. There was too much noise back behind the counter this close to the kitchen. Customers didn't understand.

They never understood.

Perhaps the worst customers of all were the mumblers. Those people who spoke so softly that you couldn't understand what they were saying two feet away from you. Ruby had been polite at first. However, after only a few hours on the floor, her manners had evaporated like the water in which the noodles were boiled.

She looked up from her cash register to see the line which extended from her to the door. A dark chuckle slipped through her lips. This was madness. How were this many people interested in freakin' noodles?

The next customer stepped forward to pay. He had ordered four bowls of noodles. Pressing the appropriate buttons on her screen, she calculated the total. "That'll be $22.05."

The man gave her an odd look, as if she was playing some sort of trick on her. "What? But the bowls are $5 each."

Ruby ground her teeth together before speaking again. "Yes, sir," she said evenly. "Plus tax."

"Excuse me," another man who had just approached the counter said. "Can I get more salt on this?"

"Well sales tax is only ten percent. Where's the extra five cents coming from?"

Ruby blinked. Was this guy for real? Was he really making such a fuss about five freakin' cents? Did he have no life? Did he not realize she had a line of people who still had to be served?

She inhaled deeply through her nose. "Tax in Vale is 10.25%."

"What? Are you sure? I've never heard of that."

Her hand instinctively reached for Crescent Rose, only to realize it was not on her. It was for the best that way. "If you would like, you could speak to my manager about it," she offered.

"No, it's fine," the man scoffed. He gave her another funny look. Like he had just been robbed. Like Ruby was a no-good thief.

Over five cents.

It went on that way. Over and over again. Person after person. Minute after minute. Sure, there were a few nice people. However, the idiots always stuck out the most. The rude, inconsiderate jerks!

Finally, things had slowed down. Looking up at the clock, her heart soared.

It was time to leave.

After she and Jaune had punched out, Ruby never wanted to speak to another person ever again. She never wanted to hear the word noodle again. She never wanted to come back to this horrible, terrible, no-good job. She hated it. She hated it so much.

The pay wasn't even that good! No wonder her arch-nemesis, Roman Torchwick, stole for a living. Making an honest living was hard.

"Ruby?"

She was shaken from her thoughts as she walked beside Jaune. She peered up at the blond boy. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

Okay? No. Not one bit. However, she need no concern her friend with her issues. "Yep. Why do you ask?"

Jaune looked down to his arm. "Because you're using my arm as a stress ball right now?"

She followed his eyes to look beside her. Her hand was indeed clenched around his arm, squeezing it for dear life as they went. In an instant she released her grip, and he brought his other hand over to rub it.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"It's okay. Today was stressful."

It was indeed. They needed to blow off some steam.

And she knew just the way to do it. The mature way.

"You're right," she gasped. "Let's go do something fun!"

"Fun?" he asked. "Sure, I'm down for something fun. What'd you have in mind?"

"We're gonna go out to a club!"

He squinted down at her. "A club?"

"Yes! That's what adults do! After a hard day at work, they go out to the club to drink and complain about their jobs, and then dance all their troubles away!"

His hand reached up to rub the back of his head. "I mean, you're not wrong I guess? But we're kind of young for that sort of thing, don't you think?"

"Nope! Yang went clubbing before. If she's mature enough to do it, so am I!" She grabbed him by the hand and began leading him once more. "Come on. I know just the place!"

The boy offered no resistance as he was dragged behind her at almost Semblance-fueled speed.

* * *

This place was certainly different.

Jaune looked around to witness the sea of people on the dance floor. In this lighting it appeared as though they were nothing but the shadows of people moving under the flashing strobe lights. Normally he might have felt more comfortable on the floor than sitting here at the bar, but he had to keep an eye on Ruby. Something was just very off about her today, and he wasn't about to leave her to her own devices.

With Ruby sitting to his right, and a pair of young dark-haired girls to his left, all he could do was sit there and wait for her to get her fill of whatever it was she came here to get. Probably milk. The girl did like her milk.

The large man behind the counter was busy cleaning a glass, looking up at the odd pair every few seconds. He seemed nervous. Or confused. Or maybe some other emotion Jaune just couldn't read. A glance over at Ruby showed that she was still in a foul mood after working that shift at A Simple Wok. He wondered if she would be back for their next day of work. Gods knew he wouldn't be.

"Okay, I'm ready," Ruby finally said, earning the bartender's attention. She glanced down to her scroll for a few seconds before back up at the man.

"What'll it be?" the gruff-voiced man asked.

One more peek at the scroll. "Strawberry sunrise. No ice. And one of those little umbrella things."

Had she just read that off her scroll? It certainly hadn't sounded natural. Or like they had been her own words at all. Just like her little speech at the bank.

The bartender frowned. "Kid, I _know_ you're too young for a place like this. And for a drink like that. How about instead I get you a nice-"

He was silenced when Ruby slammed a fist down on the counter. "Okay listen here, buddy! I just had a long day at work!" _Slam! "_ And all I flipping wanna do right now is go out and have a nice fudging drink!" _Slam!_ "I don't think it's too much to ask for to just get a mother-trucking strawberry sunrise so I can forget about all the sons of biscuits I dealt with at work! Now are you gonna give it to me or not?"

Jaune had to forcibly cough in order to stifle his laughter. That had to have been the most adorably innocent outburst he had ever heard in his life. Ruby probably thought she sounded tough and intimidating, but all of it was undone by her utter inability to use actual swear words. She was trying so hard to sound mature, so he wouldn't spoil it for her. Instead he just looked on with a grin hidden behind his mouth.

To his surprise, however, the bartender relented. "Yeah, sure," the man said before he went about making the drink. "And you?"

He realized the man was talking to him. "Uh, just water."

With a grunt, the man set about making one drink and filling another glass with water.

The colorful drink was set in front of Ruby, a mixture of reds and oranges that did indeed resemble a sunset. The girl took a sip of it, and a smile erupted on her face. "Whoa! That's good!"

Another sip. And another. It didn't take long for its effects to take hold of the girl, who leaned heavily against the counter, using her hand to prop up her head.

"Stupid customers," she slurred. "You can't _ask_ for more salt. There's salt on the dumb table!"

Customers were indeed stupid. It had only been one day, and Jaune knew this to be true. He was determined to be a better customer himself from now on. He knew how hard people in food industry had it now.

"Yup, they sure are," he agreed.

The tipsy Ruby began to sway in her seat, falling to her left and into his shoulder. More specifically, her face. He felt her take a deep breath through the fabric of his hoodie before a soft moan slipped through her lips. "Jaune."

He stared down at her black and red hair. "Yeah?"

"You smell like laundry."

He blinked. "Well, yeah. Your nose is buried in my hoodie."

Ruby snorted, pulling back to reveal a face almost as red as her signature cloak. "More like... goodie! 'Cause it's _good_!" She laughed at her own joke before linking one of her arms around his, and leaning her head against his shoulder. "You're so funny, Jaune!"

He hadn't even made a joke. In fact, _she_ was the one who had. Still, it was obvious that she was drunk. He didn't want to confuse her. "Uh... thanks?"

She giggled again. "And cuuuuute~!" she sang. "Weiss is dumb."

He didn't know what Weiss had to do with any of that, but it seemed as though Ruby's more inner thoughts were coming out without any kind of inhibitions. He wondered why she thought Weiss was dumb. Perhaps they should get back to Beacon soon. She had gone out and done what she wanted to do. She probably wouldn't put up much of a fight in this condition.

"Hey," she said as she prodded Jaune's ribs. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"You remember... remember the first time we met?"

He did. Ruby had just exploded. Literally. After having a rough run-in with Weiss, she had been left alone on the ground in a crater. Without Yang. Without any friends.

Until he had shown up.

"Yeah," he smirked. "Crater face."

Ruby pulled back off of his shoulder again, this time with a look of shock and betrayal in her eyes. She slapped him lightly on the shoulder with a weak backhand. "You jerk!" she laughed. "And- and what was yours again?"

"Vomit boy."

"Y-yeah! That's right, _vomit_ boy! You gonna, gonna go _vomit_ again?"

Considering he had drunk only water, no. Little miss drunk off one drink was far more likely to vomit than he was tonight.

"Nope."

"Hey!" she protested. "T-that's my word!"

Jaune thought back to another time he and Ruby had spent time together. When he had been doubtful of his own leadership abilities. 'Nope' had indeed been her word that night.

"Bu's okay," she continued. "I'll let you have it. 'Cause we're friends."

How generous of her. Allowing him to have a word. Jaune shook his head with amusement as he looked down at her face. Her reddened face. Her closed eyes. Perhaps only minutes away from falling asleep right then and there on his arm.

A hand brushed his shoulder, running down his arm to rest on his bicep. "You- you were my friend since day one." Her fingers lingered there. "Even before Weiss. You were there for me, weren't you, Jaune?"

He had been indeed. Just as he was here for her today. For right now.

"Yep," he agreed. "You're my friend."

Her hold on his arm tightened as she spoke. "And- and if I'm being honest, if it wasn't for Weiss and Yang, I'd want you as my partner."

Jaune couldn't help but feel the same way. If not for Pyrrha, he would have liked Ruby as a partner as well. Ren and Nora were wonderful friends, but they deserved each other. No one else in the world could handle Nora but Ren. They were made for one another.

"You should give up on her," Ruby told him. Her tone was almost solemn now. Her glazed eyes held a serious expression in them. "She- she's no good for you."

Jaune frowned. "Then why'd you tell me to get a job for her?"

"'Cause I needed someone today. Had to convince you." Her head rested against his shoulder once more. " Yang's a butt. Weiss is mean. And Blake is books. I only had you. Always there for me." She squeezed him harder. " _Always_. Even today. Gotta- had to be you, Jaune."

Her sentences were beginning to become incomprehensible. She was trying to say something, but he couldn't put all the pieces together. "Ruby, are you okay? Should we call it a night?"

"Never butter- better," she lied. Even if she didn't realize it. "'Cause I'm here with you. My best friend not Weiss. Best boy friend."

He was glad she enjoyed his company so much. If not Weiss, at least someone not on his immediate team appreciated him. He truly did treasure Ruby and her friendship. As he had said on the first day, she was a cute, quirky girl. She was one of a kind.

And she was indeed cute when she was acting like this.

It was quite a revelation that she was such a touchy-feely drunk. Truth be told he liked the feeling of Ruby clinging onto his arm, even if it was only platonic drunk clinging.

"Maybe I could be Weiss," she muttered into his shoulder. "Be there for you too. Since day one. Real boy friend... like a fairy tale."

A chill ran through his body. Was she suggesting...

"Ruby, what are you trying to say?" Silence. "Ruby?"

The soft snore was the only answer he received as her head continued to rest against his shoulder. She was out. Out cold. From one drink.

And she had said... a lot. Maybe more than she had intended to.

Jaune took a deep breath, before taking out his wallet and paying their tab. Or rather, her tab.

As gently as he could, he stood up and wrapped her tiny body up in his arms before walking her out of the club. A good night's sleep at Beacon would do her some good.

And then maybe, if she remembered even saying it, he would ask what she meant by 'being Weiss'.

* * *

Silver eyes cracked open, and her world exploded in pain. But at least she was in bed.

Eyes opened wider, and she sat up. Wait. In bed?

Ruby glanced around to see the familiar sight of her dorm room. How? When? She had so many questions, but no one to ask.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Or, maybe one.

Ruby looked over to see Yang. Over and up. Wait, up? Was she in Weiss' bed? Apparently so.

A hand drifted up to her head, and she rubbed it gently. Her brain hurt. She knew that wasn't even possible, but that was what it felt like at the moment.

Her stomach hurt too. She felt as though she had to throw up. "Oww..." she groaned. "My tummy hurts..."

"Aw, Ruby," Yang cooed. "What's wrong?"

She whimpered pathetically. "Yaaaang. Can I stay home from school today?"

"You sure can."

Instantly she felt better. There were few better things in life than getting to stay home from school. Especially if you were actually sick.

"Yay! You're the best big sister ev-"

"Because it's Sunday!"

In an instant Ruby's heart dropped. As did her stomach. "Oh gods..."

She got up and dashed over to their room's bathroom.

After emptying the contents of her stomach she reemerged, now feeling a lot more down than only seconds earlier.

"This sucks..." she moaned. "I don't wanna be sick on the weekend!"

"Well, that's life, Ruby," Yang chuckled. "How did you even get sick so quickly? You were fine yesterday."

How indeed? She remembered going out with Jaune yesterday. The bank. Work. The club.

The club...

Oh. Right. Just how much had she had to drink? She would have to ask Jaune that the next time they spoke.

"Well, since you didn't wanna let me go see the movie, I decided to show you how mature I really am," she explained. "So Jaune and me spent all day yesterday doing all kinds of adult things together. And it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life! I can't believe how rough it was!"

All traces of a smile dropped from Yang's face. "What?"

"Yeah... and now... now I feel sick..."

A soft breath slipped through Yang's lips. "Morning sickness..." she whispered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Ruby," she said as she stood up and walked over to the door. Her face was pale, while her eyes contained only cold and ruthless focus as she grabbed the handle. "Nothing at all. You rest up. Jaune and me are gonna have a nice long talk. Excuse me..."

Ruby collapsed back onto Weiss' bed as the door shut.

She didn't want to grow up now. Adulting was hard. She wished she could stay a kid forever.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Special thanks go out to **I** **myoshi** for not only providing me with this story idea, but for beta reading it as well.

People have always wanted me to try my hand at Lancaster, so here's a silly little attempt at it. Just in time for the Volume 6 premier as well! I hope you all enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading.


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